Great Schools Lobby Day is June 16
WEAC President Stan Johnson urged WEAC members to sign up for Great Schools June 16 Lobby Day in Madison.
"It's important that legislators hear from us - the experts - about how to maintain great schools in Wisconsin," Johnson said. "Legislators should be encouraged to support the budget Governor Doyle presented to the Legislature earlier this year because it supports great schools."
Lobby Day is scheduled at a critical time when legislators are making key decisions on education items in the state budget bill.
Lobby Day will be at the Monona Terrace Convention Center and at the Capitol. It includes visits with legislators, speeches by key political leaders and discussions with colleagues.
Participants must register in advance. Registration and additional information is now available online in the Members Only section of OnWEAC and through UniServ offices.
The governor's budget calls for an additional $850 million investment so that the state lives up to its commitment to fully fund two-thirds of the cost of public education, Johnson said. The governor's plan also includes additional aid for the SAGE class-size reduction program, 4-year-old kindergarten, special education, revenue cap relief, school transportation and teacher mentoring.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/5_2/1.htm
New WEAC TV program on the air
A new WEAC-produced television program is airing throughout the state in May. "Great Schools Under Siege" urges viewers to call upon their elected officials to support great schools.
The 30-minute infomercial-type program illustrates some of the negative effects of state-imposed school district revenue controls and the federal government's so-called "No Child Left Behind" law. It is narrated by Green Bay teacher Kelli Rose and features interviews with several WEAC members, WEAC President Stan Johnson, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster, Wisconsin public school students and others.
http://www.weac.org/News/update/2004-05/5_2/2.htm Join the Children's Great Schools Fund
The Children's Great Schools Fund needs to add new WEAC members between now and October 2005 in order to meet its goal of contributing at least $75,000 to WEAC's recommended candidate for governor in 2006.
The Children's Great Schools Fund conduit exists to support candidates for state office in Wisconsin who support great schools. Members control their accounts and choose which candidates will receive their contributions at which times.
The Children's Great Schools Fund added 78 new members between the April 9 Board of Directors meeting and last month's Representative Assembly in La Crosse. RA delegates responded to WEAC Government Relations Director Bob Burke's old-fashioned revival-style appeal by contributing to the conduit and signing up to have money removed from their checking accounts every month.
To join, or for more information about the Children's Great Schools Fund, call or e-mail WEAC Political Coordinator Gail Gonzales at 800-362-8034, extension 326, or gonzalesg@weac.org.
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While the so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) proposal is still alive in Wisconsin, a Nevada senator's TABOR proposal was defeated on a 5-2 committee vote after three days of testimony, much of it from critics who decried the measure's potential impact on services. The measure, sponsored by Nevada State Senator Bob Beers, would have limited budget growth to a combination of inflation and population increases. It was modeled after Colorado's TABOR.Nevada Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, who chairs the Finance Committee, said the measure sounds good in theory, but does not work. For more information about Wisconsin's TABOR proposals, go to the OnWEAC Tax Gimmicks page.
The May 2005 issue of Inc. Magazine rates Wisconsin as one of the best places in the nation for doing business and cites the state's public education system as the number one reason for the rating. The Inc. Magazine rating comes just one month after Expansion Management Magazine rated five Wisconsin cities among the top 10 in the nation for doing business. No other state had more than two cities in the top 10. More information about both articles is available in the Great Schools section of OnWEAC. |
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